Pope Leo XIV said on Monday that concerns about artificial intelligence going rogue are real and should be taken seriously. He made the comments during a news conference on his flight back to Rome after a four-day trip to France.
The pope said safety issues raised by AI experts should be discussed and acted on. He was responding to a question about what the United States and China should do to prevent AI from posing catastrophic risks to humanity.
"I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously," the pontiff said. "I don't think that that is fake news, as some have said."
Pope Responds to Trump and Tech Leaders
US President Donald Trump has called concerns about AI going rogue a "hoax." The pope, the first American to lead the Catholic Church, has warned about the dangers of AI throughout his 16-month papacy.
Leo also directly criticized technology CEOs who argue there should be no guardrails on AI. He pointed to the head of chipmaker Nvidia.
The pope said he had read on Monday that Nvidia's leader announced there could be a way to insert guardrails into certain AI models. But he expressed doubt about the claim.
"He's the same one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation," Leo said.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang told CBS News this month that he agreed with Trump that safety concerns about AI were overblown.
Vatican Pushes for Global AI Rules
The Vatican has stepped up its efforts in recent months to support international AI governance. Its focus has included nuclear technology, culture and artistic creation.
Leo named AI as one of the biggest challenges facing humanity within days of his election. He later dedicated his first encyclical to AI and protecting humanity.
In May, the pope took the unusual step of personally launching the encyclical at a Vatican event. He was joined by Christopher Olah, a cofounder of AI company Anthropic.
The event was part of a wider Vatican effort to engage Silicon Valley about the human costs of AI.
On Monday, the pope called for more cooperation between governments, the tech industry and social groups. "We need to continue to invite political leaders, leaders of AI, social organisations, associations to come together and look at what is happening already and what could be down the road," he said.
Leo urged the world "to promote dialogue, study, investigation, to find ways to make sure that AI does not get to a point where it could destroy humanity."
He said he believes enough people are seriously interested in the issue. "But we have to keep working," the pope added.
"We can't just sit back and pretend nothing's going to happen," he said.
